Bonnet catch seized, and upon inspection, the cable is a little frayed.

Garage soaked the catch in WD40 all night, greased it up with silicone in the morning, bonnet now opens.

Shall I get both the catch and cable replaced, or do you think it will hold out? If so, how often shall I re-grease!?

 

I had the same thing on mine a couple of years back, took me a good half hour to open the bonnet! Cleaned up all the cr@p that was on the catch and soaked it in WD40, never had an issue again. If I were you, I'd just re-grease it when necessary, save your money until it really is an issue - assuming its fine now you've greased it up.

 

inspect it - mine was rusty at the bottom, and eventually gave way to where the cable clips onto. The nipple on the cable was also shot. Easy enough job to replace on your own, unless you're built like a tank. You need skinny arms to pull the cable through the wing - expect lots of cuts and swearing.

Word of caution, if you do replace the catch, keep the old spring!! The spring that comes on the new one is FAR to strong, and I couldn't close the bonnet after. I swapped the spring back around and all good - expect the spring also gave in a few months ago. Thankfully I was able to stretch/bodge it back in.

Also - go easy on the grease - I found too much added extra stress as it gunks up and actually hinders movement.

 

Great info - many thanks

I wouldn't have the first clue how to do it myself, especially if it failed and the bonnet was stuck closed

 

Same here, except it was around nine months ago. It's been fine since.

 

If you're interested in replacing the catch, it is currently £40 from Honda UK - it's on my list purely for aesthetics!

And as said, easy on the grease. A good quality waterproof grease should do you a long time.

 

WD40 is kerosene and a fair solvent. Poor lubricant.

I consider the ability to open the hood/bonnet to be paramount so I'd replace the cable/wire. Less than US$20 at a Honda dealer. You can no doubt clean and lubricate the latch. Give it a "wheeler dealer" respray of black paint. Or just replace it too (US$25)

-- Chuck

 

It was surprisingly satisfying to remove, degunk and regrease the bonnet latch.

Unfortunately the bonnet still doesn't close easily so I made need to adjust the placement of the latch...

 

I tried messing about with my old catch and old cable. I eventually (and reluctantly) replaced both as they were in such bad condition. I'm glad that I did because it sorted everything out. I've had no issues since.

 

You didn't make a video did you?

Just happened to me.... any links for replacements would be great too